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RE-InVEST Project

Maynooth University will collaborate on a significant pan-European study into the effects of the economic crisis on vulnerable groups, with the aim to change the strategy behind European Union social funding.

The RE-InVEST project, an initiative that addresses social inequality and poverty by researching the experiences of vulnerable people most impacted by the crisis, has received almost €2.5 million in funding from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 research fund. The ambition of the RE‐InVEST research project is to contribute to a more balanced economic and social development model for the EU, a model based on human rights and capabilities, to generate comparative knowledge on the main social investment policies, and encourage the implementation of this innovative model by bringing together a range of stakeholders, including people severely affected by the crisis, and policymakers with regard to policymaking.

Researchers at Maynooth University are playing a central role in the project, which is being officially launched in Brussels on March 17th, and involving 19 stakeholder organisations in 12 European countries, and contributors from a range of disciplines. The project aims to contribute to a more balanced economic and social development model for the EU and provide a stronger intellectual foundation to its framework for social investment, known as its Social Investment Package.

The RE‐InVEST project is funded €2.49m under H2020 Euro 3 ‘European Societies after the Crisis’. The project runs from 1 March 1 2015 for four years to 28 February 2019. It will mobilise 19 stakeholder organisations in twelve countries through a participative approach involving a crossing of knowledge between academics, civil society and people experiencing the reality of poverty. It aims to provide a stronger intellectual foundation to the European Union Social Investment Package, through (a) philosophical reframing in the human rights and capabilities tradition, (b) qualitative and quantitative empirical analysis of various building blocks, particularly labour market activation, social protection and regulating for minimum social service standards, (c) creative proposals relating to fiscal policy, funding and governance of social investment.

The project is led by principal investigator Ides Nicaise (KU Leuven). Maynooth University is a significant collaborator, Dr Mary P. Murphy in the Department of Sociology is a member of the management board of the project and leads two of the projects eight work packages. For more information on Re-InVEST project please visit: Re-InVEST Project
For details on RE-InVEST policy brief please visit RE-InVEST Policy Brief

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This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 649447.